VideoHelp Forum
+ Reply to Thread
Results 1 to 9 of 9
Thread
  1. Hi all. Im new to the forum. Im a 34 yr. old U.S. Army Soldier currently deployed in Iraq with moderate pc, electronics, and photography experience. I purchased a Sony "Webbie" MHS-PM1 HD digital camcorder/camera for my deployment video and photos. (a more expensive camcorder would've been a bad idea in this environment) Aside from occasional video stuttering, it seems to work fine recording video in 1080 30P resolution (3:2). I currently have multiple short clips, and would like to join these clips into 1 uninterrupted video for ease of viewing. I have little to no experience editing video, but so far it doesnt seem too difficult.......except......everything i've tried so far seems to change the resolution and size format/ratio.
    Basically, I started off assuming I'd use windows movie maker (WMM). No go with MP4. I read if I updated the codecs with K-Lite codec pack it would be possible in WMM. I did and it was still a no go for me. So then I figured i'd have to do file conversion. I tried using windows media encoder. No luck. So then I tried Quick Media Converter, which seems like a great program with HD features. But also a no go in WMM. Lastly I tried Free Video Joiner. Also a no go.
    After converting from MP4 to another HD format, WMM gave me an error stating it "didnt recognize the audio file, or the file was being used by another program". I did try playing with plug-ins to change the audio to a more simple format, but it never worked. I only have 1/2 of a clue what im doing here.....so if anyone has any suggestions, please dumb it down barney-style for me. I've done my best doing my own research into this, and am at a loss. I have no preference with staying with the MP4 format, but I would like my friends and family who probably only have the "more popular" media players to be able to open the video file. I also want the joined video to remain at a widescreen/high-definition resolution. If anyone has any software suggestions I havent tried, or suggestions for the ones I already do have, for joining, or converting for use in WMM (or another editing program) it would be greatly appreciated.
    Here is a side by side still taken from a HD clip, and from a "converted and joined" video. (MP4 to .AVI.) You can see the clarity went to crap, and the ratio changed. The ratio change seems to happen with everything I tried. If you look at my boots in the bottom of the picture, you can see the lower one looks like my feet are smooshed long and skinny compared to the upper pic.(sorry for the lengthy post)

    Quote Quote  
  2. WMM only supports SD DV-AVI or MPEG-1, use VideoStudio or MPEG Streamclip.
    BTW: nice M4.
    Quote Quote  
  3. aBigMeanie aedipuss's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2005
    Location
    666th portal
    Search Comp PM
    the easiest way would be to use something like convertx2dvd and make dvds to send home. convertx is cheap and works well. they might have a free demo still.

    a free one to try would be the film machine.

    if you want to keep it in mp4 it's a little more complicated and you'll need a better editor like womble's mpeg video wizard(not free). maybe the free vlc editor when it is released in a couple months might work.

    what was your plan for sharing? mailing it home, uploading to youtube or similar? other? video is too big to email.
    --
    "a lot of people are better dead" - prisoner KSC2-303
    Quote Quote  
  4. Member
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Location
    United States
    Search PM
    qtpro i thinks..
    Quote Quote  
  5. Originally Posted by aedipuss
    what was your plan for sharing? mailing it home, uploading to youtube or similar? other? video is too big to email.
    LMAO! I knew this question would come up! I hadn't gotten far enough to know if it would be too big for email. (probably 700MB file) Dunno.......never checked hotmails max attachment. I figured I'd try that first, maybe file sharing over Windows Live instant messenger second, or web hosting it for download third. DVD was my last resort as it seems that may be harder to distribute to multiple family members than shooting a long-lost uncle an email with link to download. Dunno......I figured I'd tackle that if/when all other ideas failed
    " Let them take arms ... The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants."
    -Thomas Jefferson
    Quote Quote  
  6. aBigMeanie aedipuss's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2005
    Location
    666th portal
    Search Comp PM
    then i'd suggest keeping the videos in small pieces. since you have access to hotmail they provide a "sky drive" where you can upload and share files/videos. they have a 50mb per file limit, and 2GB total.

    if you use them individually try mediacoder for trimming the ends and re-coding to a bitrate to keep the files under 50mb. it's free and can be set to use the h264 codec with mp3 or acc audio to make a decent mp4.

    filesize=bitrate x time, so you can work out what bitrate to use.
    --
    "a lot of people are better dead" - prisoner KSC2-303
    Quote Quote  
  7. You can join them without recompression with YAMB
    Quote Quote  
  8. Member
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Location
    United States
    Search PM
    i think avidemux as well.

    avidemux will join them automatically if the files are in the same folder and you open a file it will ask you if you want to append them.
    Quote Quote  
  9. Sweet! Thanks for the software suggestions I was unable to find on my own. Plenty of options to ponder on now, and new software to play with. I appreciate all the help! Now I just need a day off.......
    " Let them take arms ... The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants."
    -Thomas Jefferson
    Quote Quote  



Similar Threads

Visit our sponsor! Try DVDFab and backup Blu-rays!